Magicshine ALLTY 1500s lights review: a brilliant light for commuting all year round

If you’ve never heard of Magicshine, you’re missing out. If you have heard of them but ignored them, you’re also missing out. They produce an impressive range of feature-rich lights, and this one, the catchy-titled ALLTY 1500s, is no different.

Design details & specifications

The ALLTY 1500s is fancy. It features an OLED screen, similar to those found in your best smartwatches. It also features a Garmin-style mount and a decent bar-mounted clip with ample adjustability. It displays the battery level in clear percentages, and while the Raveman, possibly its nearest competitor, felt a little ‘edgy’ in some areas, this one, with a similar design in many respects, simply feels of better quality.

(Image credit: Andy Carr)

This spec sheet on the Magicshine Alty stands out amongst other lights on the market because the modes are all customisable via a pretty decent app.

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Although I initially thought this was entirely pointless—partly because of how easily I can cycle through the settings using the screen—I find it fun to play with. I still believe it’s a bit overkill, given that the integrated screen shows you exactly what power output you’re accessing, which is very straightforward and genuinely helpful. I found that you can switch to the setting that best suits you, reducing the power where you feel you have plenty of visibility, and it provides a much clearer sense of control than almost all the other lights I tested this year.

The fitting system is a little fiddly, but once it’s in place, it remains secure and functional. This light earns extra points for having a swappable battery. Given that the internals of an LED light are quite ‘solid state’—without free-moving parts that might wear out—it seems likely your main concern will be a battery malfunction. The fact you can swap in a new battery without having to discard the whole unit is a big win for common sense. And a huge advantage over other lights which aren’t replaceable in that way.

At £89.99 and weighing 143g, it’s light in both weight and price, but it cannot quite top the Raveman, which has a better beam and whilst it does have less features, is a tenner less expensive than this unit.

If that pricing difference isn’t an issue for you, this unit does feel better quality and whilst there was no issues with either unit on test, add that slightly higher quality feel into the equation, and the replaceable battery feature, and this might be the best choice in the market at this price point, and beyond.

If the Raveman equivalent wasn’t so close to this one, and a tenner cheaper, this would be the stand-out unit and my absolute recommendation.

It’s the best quality to look at and easiest to use, and if you’re looking for a feature rich, tech-heavy, lightweight and serviceable light for commuting, this would be my choice, and despite it being slightly more expensive, it still represents cracking value compared to almost anything from more established brands like Cateye and Blackburn.

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